My Life As Xylia
by EbonyRey
Summary: The story that follows the life of Xylia Willis, your not-so-average teenage demigod. OC fiction. R & R please!
1. Prologue

_SO! I've rewritten the prologue, simply because I was not satisfied with the previous one. I hope you like it!_

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><p>Greetings, fellow demigodshumans/gods/monsters/nymphs/satyrs/Fan-Fiction readers!

My name is Xylia Willis. It's nice to meet you.

So. If at this moment, you are staring at these very specific words, then congratulations! You are now reading about my very awesome and exciting life!

And trust me when I say it's exciting.

I do not lie.

Well anyway, my demigod life began around the age of sixteen, and BEFORE you start harping about how Percy ( he's a good guy, even though he's a little obtuse) made the gods swear on the River Styx to claim their kids by the time they're thirteen, let me inform you I was already past that age around that time. So yeah.

Now where was I? Yeah, I was telling you that I discovered I was a demigod around the age of sixteen. And boy, was I relieved when I found out. Up until then, I was afraid that I was some mentally defected lunatic that had a serious case of hallucinations.

You see, like any other demigod, I kept seeing (gasp) monsters around me throughout my childhood. And not just any monsters - I recognized them _all _from the Greek myths (oh my gods, what a coincidence, right?)

Also, there was the fact that I had been diagnosed with dyslexia as well as ADHD - of course, I didn't really mind it because that fearsome combination immediately entitled me to become every teacher's worst nightmare. Although the dyslexia thing got a little frustrating at times...

...Anyway, along with all these 'problems', was the fact that as I grew older, I found that I was gifted with the ability to do magic.

Yes, magic. Cool, right?

Telekinesis, teleportation, invisibility, popping-random-things-into-existence: you name it, I could do it (except controlling time, of course).

Awesome, huh?

But of course, there has to be a downside to everything (sadly). For this situation, the downside was that exercising my magic meant utilizing my energy resource, which in turn meant that I would get tired easily. So, I couldn't do stuff as often as I would like to.

Also, nobody really understood my ability to do magic, so I had to keep it a secret from everyone.

Everyone, that is, except my dad.

My dad's a cool dude. He's the head of Willis Enterprises, so we're like, über rich. And even though we're nothing alike, we're as close as the A and the S on your little keyboard.

His job keeps him pretty busy, but he always made time for me (just because I'm cool like that).

He even encouraged the fact that I was able to do magic! I mean, which kid can actually say that about their parent?

And even when I would get all sad that my mom didn't care enough to be with us, he would just become all serious and say that even though she wasn't here with us, she still cared, and she still loved us.

And I would eye him like he'd just said he wanted to eat my shoe.

And _that _was my life as a 'human' in a nutshell, but it all changed when this little voice popped into my head (no, I'm not crazy...I think) and turned it upside down completely (I'll tell you about that in the next chapter).

Buckle up your seat belts, cuz you're in for a bumpy ride.


	2. The Voice In My Head Saves The Day

_This one's also been rewritten, as you can probably see. I hope you like it._

_And yeah, I'd forgotten to add this in the prologue: I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS. Sadly._

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><p>A Voice in My Head Saves the Day.<p>

It was the last day of school before summer vacations started, and it was like any other. I spent the day attending classes, hanging out with my friends, planning stuff for the summer, yada yada yada.

The abnormality started after school ended.

I was sitting in the school bus on the way home, looking out the window. It was noisy, to say the least, and I was in a quiet mood. I stared at the trees and houses whizzing by, when:

_Xylia._

I jumped and looked around me. No one seemed to have acknowledged me...I leaned back into my chair, thinking I'd just imagined it, when the voice spoke my name again.

_Xylia._

I jumped and looked around again. Nope. No one's talking. I put my hand on my forehead and wondered if I was going insane.

_Oh, don't worry, _the voice said. _You're pretty sane, sweetie._

There was a voice in my head and it was female. Oh my god, I'm going off my rocker.

_I told you, you're pretty sane. Stop worrying._

I blinked. Oh my god. What the hell is wrong with me? There is A VOICE IN MY HEAD!

_Oh hush. Stop worrying for a minute a just listen to me!_

The voice was yelling at me. IN MY HEAD. I think I need to see a doctor.

_Oh my goodness. Just stop, will you? You are not crazy. You don't need to see a doctor. You just need to listen to me!_

Oh, she's starting to get annoyed. Ha, the voice in my head's starting to get annoyed. And she want's me to listen to her. Who in the world is she?

_Seriously? Calm down, will you? All will be explained soon. For now, you just have to listen to what I say!_

_What do you mean, listen to what you say? _I asked, still not believing the fact that I was engaging in conversation with a freaking voice in my head.

_Sweetheart, you need to have faith in me. It's for your own good, and it will also give you some answers to your unasked questions. You _must_ trust me._

_How the hell did you get into my head, anyway?_ I demanded mentally.

_Watch your language, girl. And I told you, all will be explained soon. Just listen to me for now, please?_

I huffed. I couldn't believe I was actually going to do this, but..._Okay fine! But if listening to you leads to my death, I swear I'll haunt you (whoever you are) for the rest of your godforsaken life._

_Okay, _the voice said, sounding relieved. _And no such thing will happen. Just trust me, okay?_

I sighed mentally. _Fine!_

_Good. _The voice sounded satisfied. _Now_ w_hen you reach your house, I want you to go in and pack some of your basic necessities, along with a few clothes._

_What?_ I asked incredulously. _You want me to pack?_

_Please don't ask any questions. You will know soon._

_But why? _I demanded, my forehead forming thin creases as I frowned.

_Don't ask any questions! Please! It is for your own good. You will know soon._

I raised an eyebrow, but agreed anyway.

The voice quietened down for the rest of the ride, and I wondered if I _was_ going crazy.

A few minutes later, the bus stopped and thr driver turned around and said, "Stop thirteen! Stop thirteeeeen!" My stop.

I stepped out of the bus, right in front of my house. Well, mansion, but whatever. The security guard wished me good afternoon and let me in. I smiled at him, and then went straight up to my room.

_Just some of your basic necessities, now. Nothing much, just enough to carry in a backpack. Oh, and don't forget to write a note to your dad. Don't worry, he'll understand._

_Okaaay, _I thought back, and looked around my room. Now what to pack?

My eyes landed on my closet and I walked to it. I removed two jeans and a few shorts, along with a few T shirts and underwear. After dumping them into a dark blue backpack, I went into the bathroom and took some of my toiletries and put them in too. I then grabbed my iPod, charger and cell phone, and put them in my bag too. _Done. Now time for the note._

I took a piece of paper and a pen and started writing.

_Dear dad,_

_I sorry to say so, but I'm leaving, because a voice in my head instructed me too. I'm not crazy...at least I think I'm not. It's just that I have this weird feeling that this voice will lead me towards my mother, and I'll finally find some answers regarding the other side of my family. The voice said you'll understand._

_I can assure you that I WILL come back home to you. Don't worry, and don't contact the police, please._

_I love you._

_Xylia._

I read through the note a few times and then placed it on my desk. Then I looked in my mirror, judging my appearance. I was wearing a navy blue T shirt and grey jeans, along with my favorite black Vans. I grabbed my black jacket and then scooped my dark hair into a high ponytail. Eh, good enough.

I also went to my safe and took out a thousand dollars worth of cash, and then, slinging my backpack onto my shoulders, I exited my room.

Just before leaving, I went into the kitchen and grabbed a few energy bars and Starbursts. Don't judge me.

I silently said goodbye to my house and then stepped out into the streets of Chicago. _Now what?_

_Now, you go to the airport and book a flight to Long Island, New York._

_You want me to fly all the way to freaking New York? _I asked disbelievingly.

_What did I tell you about your language? _The voice reprimanded. _And yes, I do. Just trust me, please. Is that so much to ask?_

Needless to say, I did what the voice told me to do. I went to the airport and booked a flight to Long Island, New York.

An hour later, it was time for my flight. I boarded the plane, and, as I settled into my seat, I wondered if I really _had _gone bonkers, flying from Chicago to Long Island just because a voice in my head told me to.

Sighing, I leaned back into my seat and went to sleep.

I was awakened by a robotic voice saying, "All passengers to fasten your seat belts, we will be landing shortly. I repeat, all passengers to fasten your seatbelts."

I rubbed my eyes sleepily and fastened my seat belt. _Well. I'm in New York now,_ I thought._ Guess there's no turning back._

We landed a few minutes later, and after going through all airport procedures, I left the building.

I stepped out and looked around, taking in the busy atmosphere. It was sometime in the evening - probably 6:00. I shifted my backpack slightly, and then thought: _Now what?_

_Now, you hail a cab and go to Farm Road 3.141 Long Island, _the voice said. _Hopefully, you won't have any...problems._

_What do you mean? _I demanded, raising my eyebrows.

The voice remained quiet.

I rolled my eyes and then hailed a cab.

We reached our destination about half an hour later. The cabbie looked behind at me doubtfully and said, "Are you sure this is the place? It looks deserted."

"This is the place," I said firmly and paid him double the fare. He shut up after that.

I got out of the cab and looked around. I was on an old farm road at the base of a hill seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

_Are you sure about this? _I asked doubtfully. _It really does look deserted._

_It's the place,_ the voice said surely. _You just have to climb up the hill and then down to the other side._

I sighed and started hiking up the hill.

But, contrary to what the voice had hoped, I did come across a...minor complication.

...

Great. Just great. I'd just encountered another monster from the Greek myths. And not just _any _monster. It was the freaking HYDRA!

Hadn't Heracles killed it that one time?

Anyway, it was about fifty feet away from me, and was padding towards me like it had all the time in the world...which it probably did.

The serpent was...scary, to say the least. It was around thirty feet tall, and it had seven equally terrifying looking serpent heads. All seven of them growled at me menacingly, and I yelped and took several steps backwards.

Oh my god, what am I going to doo?

_Well don't just stand there! _The voice sounded exasperated. _Use your magic!_

Of course! Magic! That will work!

There was probably no point in turning invisible and hightailing it out of there, because with it's seven freaking heads, it could track me easily. Also, teleportation was out of the question, as the distance was too long, and I'd probably faint once I was done.

I'd have to go with the offensive.

_I hope this will work,_ I thought as I brought my palms together and concentrated. Slowly, I pulled them away, and a ball of fire appeared in between them, growing as the distance increased. With a small, satisfied smile, I took the fireball and threw it at the monster, moving away while it was distracted.

One of the heads reached out and snapped at me. I squealed and moved to the right, narrowly escaping it's extremely pointy fangs.

"OH MY GODS!" I heard a voice yell. I dodged another head and threw another fireball, and then looked towards the voice.

I saw a boy with messy black hair and sea green eyes, running down the hill with...a pen? No, a sword. He was flanked by two other boys who looked to be twins, both with mops of brown hair and blue eyes. They too were carrying swords.

Another head dove down and snapped at me. I turned away from the approaching boys and moved quickly to the left.

By now, the boys had already reached me and the hydra. The black haired guy...let's call him Bob, shall we? Well, Bob jumped up towards the hydra and sliced off one of it's scary heads.

And that's when a thought struck me.

"Hey, when you knock off one hydra head, don't two more grow back?" I asked the three strangers, eyeing the serpent warily.

And lo and behold, the stub divided in the middle and grew to form two separate heads. I was now staring at an eight-headed hydra.

"OH MY SWEET JESUS!" I yelled, scampering backwards.

"I'm, uh, sorry?" Bob said sheepishly, grinning slightly. Really, who grins at a time like this?

The other two guys...um, let's call them Gary and Jose, kay? Yeah, those two started yelling and shaking their fists at Bob.

Their shout fest came to an end when one of the EIGHT heads dove towards them.

And then I, while dodging one of it's stupid heads, said: "We need to cut it's heads off and then burn the stumps, right?"

Bob nodded. "Yes, but we don't have any fire."

I smirked at them while scooting to the right to steer clear of another head. "You leave the fire part to me, alright?"

The three guys nodded doubtfully and then got to work at slicing off the heads.

Bob got one first. He's good at that.

As soon as the head fell off, I created another fireball and shot it at the stub.

That did the trick.

It also left me three awestruck dudes to deal with.

"Woah, cool!" Gary exclaimed.

"Definitely!" Jose agreed.

"That is pretty awesome!" Bob said nodding.

"Less talking, more slicing?" I suggested, dodging another angry head. Can't blame it. It just lost a sibling, right?

We continued to work that way. They would slice 'em off, while I would burn 'em off.

After around fifteen minutes, only three heads were left. Three, extremely angry heads.

But yeah, they also got a tad bit smarter. When Bob sliced off one of them, I was just about to send another fireball on the way when one of the other heads came up and snapped at me.

Yeah, it caught my arm.

I cursed loudly in a language I didn't even think I knew, as a piercing sensation shot up my hand.

I managed to stay standing - barely, though.

"You okay?" Jose asked me.

"What do you think?" I said irritably. Is he for real?

"Sorry," he said. "Can you still make the fireballs?"

I sighed, shooting another one at the stub Bob had sliced off. "Yeah, sure." It hurt, but I could manage. I think.

Gary and Jose cut down the last two, and I burned them off.

The headless corpse of the now-dead hydra disintegrated into yellow sand, leaving behind the stench of burning sulphur.

I sighed with relief, and then turned towards Bob, Gary and Jose, all of whom were looking at me curiously.

"You did good," Bob said, smiling at me.

"Yeah, those fireballs were pretty awesome," Gary agreed, grinning.

"You think you could-" Jose began, but he he didn't continue. Probably because I was suddenly hit by a wave of fatigue mixed with pain from my arm, which made an extremely contorted expression appear on my face.

"Hey, you okay?" Gary asked worriedly.

I raised my good hand and gave them a thumbs up. "Yeah, totally. I am-"

I was cut off by black spots obscuring my vision. My head started feeling burning hot, and my knees weakened. I did my best to keep standing, but I just wasn't able to.

My head hit the ground just as I felt my consciousness fading and I started losing my senses.

"I'm all right" I mumbled, and then the world around me disappeared completely, leaving me in an atmosphere of comfortable darkness.

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><p><em>Review, please!<em>

_-Ebony._


	3. I Finally Get Some Answers

_I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Alas, I am not as cool as Rick Riordan._

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><p>I Finally Get My Answers.<p>

I came to my senses slowly, and steadily.

I got my sense of touch first.

I was on a bed, it seemed, and my left arm felt to be in a cast. It was throbbing quite hard, but nothing more than that. I could also feel a wetness on my forehead, like someone had put a wet cloth on it.

Then came my sense of smell.

The room smelled like...a hospital, or infirmary, I guess. I could make out the weird, familiar odor of medicines and antiseptics.

Following smell came hearing. And from what I perceived, the room was not quiet. I could distinguish two voices talking quite animatedly, and their conversation went something like this:

"And you saw those fireballs she made? Awesome, huh?"

"Completely! Dude, you think she'll help us with a few pranks?"

"Totally. Definitely, man. No one can resist the Stoll charm."

In the midst of their 'conversation', my sense of sight came to me.

I opened my eyes slowly, just in case, and I realized that I was in a white room - obviously a hospital of sorts. It appeared to be late in the morning - around ten, maybe. Blinking slowly, I turned to my right and saw two familiar looking boys - twins, they looked like.

As I tried to sit up, memories of the events that had occurred before I had fainted came to me with a jolt. As much as I hoped that all of it was simply a nightmare, that nothing was actually real, the fact that my left arm was in a cast was proof enough to convince me otherwise.

I let out a strangled noise, thus alerting the other two of my presence. They came to my side, and gave me identical grins.

"Hey, I'm Connor Stoll," the one I who I'd named Jose said, waving his hand in a friendly manner.

"And I'm Travis Stoll," Gary said, nodding his head.

I tried to say 'hi', but my mouth felt dry and nasty, like someone had shoved hay though it. Moreover, my arm was still hurting, and I didn't know what to do to soothe the pain.

"Oh, here," Connor said, noticing my discomfort. He picked up a glass of what looked like apple juice and handed it to me. I took it, stared at it for a few seconds, and then, shrugging, took a sip.

I was pretty startled with what I tasted, because I'd expected the sweet taste of apples. Instead, what I got was the delectable taste of liquid chocolate fudge ice cream. It was a common favorite between me and my dad, and we had made it a tradition to have at least _one _cup every weekend.

I drained the glass in a few seconds, and then, sighing happily, looked at the two brothers in front of me.

"Thanks," I said to them, smiling warmly.

"What does it taste like?" Travis asked me curiously.

I gave them a full description, and then asked them what it was.

"Nectar," Connor replied as if it was obvious. "And it tastes different for everyone. Whatever their favorite food is. But don't take too much. It could burn you up. Literally."

Okay. I was having second thoughts about that awesome drink right now.

"So what's your name?" Travis asked me.

"Xylia Willis," I replied. "Where am I?"

"Oh, you're in the infirmary, in Camp Half-Blood," Connor supplied. Not that it helped much.

"Camp...Half-Blood?" I asked them, frowning. What are they talking about?

"Yes. Camp Half-Blood. So are you gonna tell us how you made those awesome fireballs out there yesterday?" Travis said, an excited edge to his voice.

I grinned. "Sure," I said, shrugging. I was about to show them, when I remembered why I'd decided to come here in the first place.

I'd actually come here for a few answers.

I said, "I'll show you, only if you promise me an explanation. Deal?"

"Deal!" Connor said excitedly.

"Fine," I said. I closed my eyes and then made a closed fist with my uninjured hand. As I opened up my fingers, a tiny flame emerged in the center. Smirking, I watched the two brothers' awestruck expressions and started playing with the ball of fire.

"What else can you do?" Travis said to me, eyeing the ball with enthusiasm.

I threw the ball in the air and snapped my fingers. The ball disappeared. I scrunched my eyebrows and thought. "Let's see..."

I kept my palm in a cup like position. Then, in place of empty air, my hand was suddenly filled with colorful Starbursts. I smiled and held it out to the amazed brothers. "Want some?"

Within a second, my hand was empty. I smirked again as I dropped my hand and watched the two brothers pig on the Starbursts I'd just popped up.

Then I remembered their part of the deal and my expression changed from amused to serious. "Well?" I demanded. "Gimme an explanation!"

Both of them looked at me confusedly, and then realization dawned on their faces. "Oh yeah..how do we do this?" Connor said.

"I don't know! What if she has this traumatic moment and faints again?"

"I don't know how she'll react! How do we go about it?"

"Shit. Should we take it slowly or-"

"Hello!" I said, waving my hand at them. "I'm still here, you know. Gimme an explanation!"

"Okay, erm-" Travis was cut off with the entry of a man on a horse. No..the man _was_ a horse. No no, He was _half-horse._

I blinked and stared wonderingly at the erm...half-horse's body. Hell. I was in the company of an actual centaur. Impossible.

"I see you're awake," the centaur grinned at me. I examined him closely, and saw that he looked middle-aged, but had eyes that seemed to have experienced so much, that they almost seemed...ageless.

"Huh?" I said, not fully registering his words. "Uh, yeah. I'm awake. You're...um, a centaur?"

He chuckled and nodded. "Yes. I'm Chiron."

That name seemed _very _familiar to me, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I cleared that thought out of my head, and concentrated on the fact that I still hadn't gotten an explanation.

"Okay. So, Chiron. Can someone please help me out here? I don't know why I'm here, and I don't know what's going to happen. All I know, is the fact that...a voice in my head instructed me to come here, and I did, under the intention of getting some answers. Can I get them now?" I knew I sounded sort of whiny, but right now, I didn't really care.

Chiron nodded again. "Of course. I've been expecting you, Xylia, ever since I received a message from your mother that you'll be coming soon."

I blinked owlishly and said, "My mother? The voice was _my mother?_"

"Yes, it was. Now about your questions..."

"Yes?" I asked excitedly. Finally I was going to-

"The Greek myths are all real."

My eyes became the size of discs and I jumped up from the bed, sputtering. "The Greek myths are _real?_ HA, yeah right. That makes...that makes complete sense."

My expression changed from disbelieving to thoughtful. It all fit! The monsters I'd been seeing, the fact that I recognized them all from the myths...it all made total sense...

I looked up at Chiron, who was looking at me with quite a surprised expression. I guess he expected me to have a fit and start ranting about how they _can't _be real. But really, who am I to be judgmental?

I turned away from Chiron to look at Travis and Connor. They seemed to have forgotten about us, and were engaged in a very serious game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Idiots.

"So...you're not in the least disbelieving?" Chiron's voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked back at the surprised centaur and shook my head, smiling slightly.

"Eh, not really. It makes sense. And even though it changes all my views of reality, I can't complain now, can I?"

Chiron smiled at me and nodded his head. He seems to love doing that. "Well said, Xylia."

I grinned at him and sat down on my bed again. Then a thought struck me.

"So you're Chiron? Like, _the _Chiron from the my- ah, stories? Trainer of Hercules, and all that jazz?"

He...nodded again, proudly, I think, "Yes I am. And I'll be around, as long as humanity needs me to instruct them, and to teach them."

_Awesome, _I thought as I leaned into the plushy white pillows. Then another thought struck me.

"So. If the Greek myths are real, that means the gods are real too?"

"They're very much real, Xylia. They control the forces of nature and human endeavors and are alive to this day. Of course, this brings me to another thing you need to know. Your mother...she's a goddess."

If I'd been drinking anything right then, I would have had the most epic spit take. But since that wasn't the case, I settled for sputtering.

"My mom's a _goddess?"_

"Yes.''

"_Seriously?_"

"Yes."

"Am I being punk'd?"

"No, you're not being 'punk'd', Xylia. What I say is completely true. Your mother's a goddess."

"Oh my god, my mom's a goddess. My mom's a _goddess_! Wait. So that makes me-"

"A child of the gods. Demigod, or half-blood to be exact," Chiron said, nodding. "That's why you see those monsters around you. They catch your godly scent and set about trying to kill you. Which now brings me to another important detail. You are now at Camp Half-Blood, a place when you can train yourself, in case you encounter another monster. You need to be able to defend yourself, which is why this camp exists. We will train you, and prepare you for facing the outside world. Now, any more questions?"

"So...which goddess is my mom?"

"Undetermined. She will have to claim you for us to know."

I studied the centaur in front of me, and I had a gut feeling that he knew. I'd also guessed who my mother was, on account of my ways with magic, but I guess I'm going to have to wait...

"Okay, now. The hard part's done. Now, it's time for you to get a tour. Exciting, huh?"

I nodded slightly, still in a little bit of a shock. It's not everyday that you find your mom's a _goddess_.

"Sweet. Can we give her the tour, Chiron?" Travis piped in.

"Oh, yes. We'd love to, Chiron. Can we?" Connor added. I wondered why they were so excited to give me the tour.

Chiron shifted uncomfortably. Ah, he has trust issues with these guys. Expectable. "I'm sorry, boys. You're going to have to go to the Hermes cabin and set up a bed for her, until she's claimed. I've called for a, ah, more responsible person, for showing her around."

The brothers pouted and left the infirmary with forlorn expressions on their faces. I opened my mouth to ask a question when Chiron cut me off, saying "Hermes is the god of travelers and all things related. So obviously, all undetermined campers will be welcome over there, until their godly parent claims them." Well that clears it up.

I started with another question, when I was cut off _again,_ this time with the entry of a familiar looking boy, about my age, with messy black hair and sea green eyes.

"Hi. I'm Percy. And you're Xylia?" he asked me with a friendly smile. I smiled back and jumped off my bed, ready for a tour with good ol' Bob.

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><p><em>Did you like it? Tell me in a review! Constructive criticism is welcome, although flames are not appreciated.<em>

_-Ebony._


	4. A Tour To Remember

_Here's the third chapter! :)_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Although, I do own Xylia, Chance and the plot. No stealing! (:_

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><p>A Tour To Remember.<p>

"...And this is the arena, where we all practice our fighting, and stuff. Lots of fun," Percy said, gesturing towards a large clearing where a few campers wearing orange T shirts were fighting with swords and spears.

I nodded along, looking at them interestedly. So far Bob...I mean Percy, had shown me the javelin range, the canoeing lake, the archery range, the stables (which he seemed to adore), the sing-along amphitheater and the armory. Truth be told, I was liking this place very much.

As we walked past the strawberry fields, I noticed campers picking bushels of berries and people having goat legs prancing around while playing reed pipes. Satyrs, I think they were called.

It had become apparent to me that Percy was a very well-respected camper in this place. Everyone seemed to acknowledge him whenever he was around and stare at me, as if to say, _Who is this girl and what is she doing with Percy?_

Percy then pointed towards an outdoor pavilion framed with white Greek columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There were at least twenty stone picnic tables. However, there was no roof.

I looked at the structure confusedly and then asked, "What happens if it rains?"

Percy chuckled and said, "It doesn't rain here unless Mr. D wishes it to. (sigh) I remember asking the same question when I first arrived."

Mr. D. He was...an interesting person. Or god, I should say. I had met him when Percy and I had left the infirmary. He was sitting in the porch, facing three other satyrs, and was playing some card game I didn't know the name of. The satyrs seemed to be deathly afraid of him. It made me wonder what he did to those poor boys...

Mr. D, I had come to find, was actually Dionysus, the god of the vine and wine. He was a short guy, with a purple, pudgy face, and was wearing a gaudy Hawiian shirt with tiger prints and shorts. He was very unpleasant too, and I couldn't have been more relieved when we (meaning Percy and I) had left the building.

Soon after, we reached the cabins. There were around twenty five, I think, twelve of which were arranged in a U shape, while the others formed a rectangle across the U. They were nestled in the woods by the lake, and they were the most bizarre collection of cabins I had ever, ever seen. Cabin four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof of actual grass; Number nine looked like a tiny factory; Number seven was so shiny, it was hard to even look at, and Number five was bright red with a real nasty looking paint job. There was absolutely nothing in common between these extraordinary buildings, except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door.

Even though each and every cabin was unique in itself, my attention went straight towards one of the cabins in the rectangle. It was a beautiful shade of navy blue, with black curtains and purple torches. It had intricate designs and wordings on the walls, and there were huge stones engraved with inscriptions surrounding it's front.

I stared, open mouthed, at the cabin. Even if it looked a little scary, I loved it. Absolutely loved it. I started towards it, but then was pulled back by Percy, who shook his head and said, "Don't do that. You have to wait until you're claimed, or something _bad_ might happen."

I eyed him sceptically, but let him pull me towards the U. We passed cabin one, which was the biggest and bulkiest of the twenty five. Frankly, it looked like a commercial bank. It had polished bronze doors, that shimmered like a holograph, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across them. Next to it stood a similar looking cabin, but it looked more elegant, somehow, with slimmer columns having vines of pomegranates and flowers creeping around them.

"Zeus and Hera?" I guessed, raising an eyebrow. Percy nodded, and then smiled at a boy sitting by one of the Zeus cabin walls. "How you doing, Chance?"

I looked at the boy curiously, and my breath hitched when he stopped polishing his sword and looked up. He was one of the _cutest_ guys I had ever seen. He was around my age, with messy black hair, like Percy, had startling electric blue eyes. His face broke into a grin and he got up to greet us.

"Hey, Perce. I'm doing fine. Who's this?"

I blushed slightly (I have no idea why) and smiled at him. "My name's Xylia. I'm new?"

His smile widened, and he nodded. "The girl with the neat tricks? I heard about you.."

I grinned cheekily. "Yup. That's me."

His fingers brushed against the lightning bolt on his sword hilt, and in front of my very amazed eyes, the sword shrunk to form a silver ring with a lightning bolt on it. He slipped it on and then looked at me. "So, you liking this place?"

"Definitely," I admitted. This place was the closest I had felt to home, ever. I loved Camp Half-Blood.

Then I noticed that Percy had not said a word to either of us for the past few minutes. My eyes shifted (a little unwillingly) from Chance to Percy, who, I found, was looking behind me, at a girl with honey blonde hair and stormy grey eyes. She was sprinting towards us with a smile on her face.

"Hey, Annabeth," Percy grinned as she came up and hugged him.

"Hi, Percy, Chance," Annabeth nodded to each of them and then turned her eyes to me. She blinked and then asked me the general question. "Who are you?"

I smiled at her warmly and said, "I'm Xylia. Nice to meet you."

One of her eyebrows went up. "Xylia? The girl with the wicked tricks?"

I stared at her. Is that what everyone was calling me? The girl with the tricks? Oh, wow.

I nodded. "Yeah. That's me."

Annabeth grinned at me. "Sorry about that. But it _is _nice to meet you too." She then turned towards Percy and said, "Come on. We have to go. Swords lesson, remember?"

Percy yelped like a little girl and then started running towards the arena. As he went away, he turned back and said, "Sorry, Xylia. Chance, can you take her to the Hermes cabin? I gotta go."

Chance nodded his head and grinned. "Sure thing, dude. Don't worry."

"Thanks, Chance!" Percy yelled before disappearing. Chance chuckled cutely and then turned towards me. "Come on. Let's go to the Hermes cabin."

...

Compared to all the other cabins, the Hermes cabin looked the most like a regular, normal cabin in a regular, normal summer camp. The threshold was worn out, and the paint on the walls was peeling off. The symbol over the doorway was what I recognized to be a caduceus.

"So this is the Hermes cabin," Chance said uselessly, gesturing towards the obvious structure in front of the two of us.

"I noticed," I said wryly, feeling a little scared. Chance blushed slightly (aw) and then pulled me into it.

Inside too, it looked like a regular cabin. It was extremely messy, and there were bunk beds lining each wall, one row for the boys, the other for the girls.

As soon as I stepped in, I attracted the attention of each and every camper inside the room. I looked around at the campers' faces - some were grinning idiotically, while some were wearing mischievous smirks, as if they were just waiting for an opportunity to pick my pockets.

"Xylia, this is the Hermes cabin. Hermes cabin, this is Xylia," Chance announced from behind me.

I smiled at all of them a little uncomfortably, unused to all the attention. Then suddenly, I felt an arm thrown around my shoulders from each side.

"So how do you like our cabin, trickster?" Connor asked from my right, smirking.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Travis piped in from my left, also smirking.

I just rolled my eyes and then shrugged their arms off of me. "Which one's my bed?" I asked the two idiots on either side of me, ignoring their mock hurt expressions.

"This one," Travis said, patting a bed to my left. "Extremely comfortable. You'll love it."

"Here's your backpack," Connor said, offering it to me with a wicked grin on his face. I eyed him warily, and then proceeded to check each and every pocket, remembering that Hermes was also the God of Thieves. I found everything intact and untouched. I looked back at the brothers cautiously, who just looked back with saint-like expressions.

Chance rolled his eyes at Travis and Connor, and then looked at me. "Remember, lunch is at noon. Don't be late." Then he proceeded to leave.

"See you later?" I called out (a little hopefully, I admit). He just smiled and nodded cutely, and then walked out of the cabin.

I smiled to myself and then turned around. The campers were still staring at me deviously, which caused me to become a _little _unnerved. Nervous laughter bubbled out of my mouth, and I lay down on my bed, pretending to sleep._ Oh, this was going to be one eventful summer._

* * *

><p><em>So this is the third chapter. I hope you liked it! :)<br>_


	5. I Get Claimed at Last

_Hey guys! So this is the fourth chapter! Woot woot!  
><em>

_Well anyway, I know this chapter is pretty tiny, but it is focusing only on the claiming, which I really can't extend that much. And the ending line came out to be pretty ominous, so I didn't have the heart to add more words. The next chapters will be longer, I swear!_

_And I know these starting chapters are seeming really slow, but I want to develop Xylia's character as a half-blood first, before I send her on any dangerous quests that might jeopardize the entire world. So the beginning of my story will only focus on Xylia's first experiences at Camp Half-Blood._

_Anyway. I also need to say that I won't be updating my story as frequently as I did before, because of homework, projects, and a bunch of other stuff. So yeah, once or twice a week, maybe?_

_I really hope you like my story, and I fervently pray that my character does not seem Mary-Sue'ish. I despise Mary-Sues, so if Xylia's starting to seem like one, please tell me so I can do something about it. _

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own the awesome dude that is Percy Jackson, nor do I own the other characters you recognize. I only have rights to the plot of the story, as well as my OC's._

_So onward to the chapter! :)_

_-EbonyRey. (Sorry for the long AN)_

* * *

><p>I Get Claimed At Last.<p>

The sound of a conch horn broke through the loud chatter of the Hermes cabin. I looked up confusedly from my iPod, only to see tweedle dee and tweedle dumb break through the cabin doors, panting like they'd just finished a hundred mile marathon.

"COME ON NOW! It's time for DINNER! Everybody UP!" Travis hollered between deep breaths. Their lack of air made me wonder what they had been doing before this...never mind. I didn't want to know.

I switched off my iPod and stood up. The campers had aligned themselves in the commons area according to seniority, which unfortunately meant that I had to stand way in the back. As I made my way to the end of the line, Hallie, a really friendly daughter of Hermes, smiled at me warmly. I grinned back and stood in place, and then we left for the pavilion.

At the pavilion, torches blazed around the columns. A central fire burned in a huge bronze brazier, and each cabin had it's own table, covered in white cloth. All in all, it was pretty awesome.

As soon as I stepped inside the beautiful structure, me eyes involuntarily traveled to Zeus's table. I saw Chance sitting there, a bored expression on his face, and my face broke into a huge, somewhat goofy smile. Chance looked up, feeling eyes on him, and when he found me, his face lit up too, which made me blush. I waved at him quickly and then averted my eyes from him, afraid that if I stared at him any longer, I would end up doing something incredibly stupid.

The Poseidon table was empty. I figured Percy must have been late or something. He seemed like that kind of person. Extremely laid-back and forgetful.

Over at the Athena table, I saw Annabeth sitting along with her half-siblings, laughing and joking along with them. Her stormy grey eyes flicked towards me and she grinned, waving. I smiled back and then followed the Hermes campers to their own table.

I ended up sitting smack in the middle of the Travis and Connor Stoll.

"Hiya, trickster," Connor said, grinning.

"How ya doing?" Travis added, a mischievous glint in his eyes. It was extremely creepy how alike their expressions looked right now...

"Hey guys," I said, smiling slightly. "I''m doing fine."

"So you liking camp?" Connor asked curiously.

I nodded, grinning. "Yeah, I do. Even though I haven't seen much of it yet."

Travis patted my back sympathetically. "Do you want us to steal you something from the camp store? We wouldn't mind...for a price."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Eh, I'm all right for now. But thanks anyway..."

"No problemo!" Travis exclaimed, grinning. "But if you need anything, just ask. Really. Just ask."

I smiled cautiously at the two of them. "Yeah, okay. Thanks."

The conversation carried on, and just when the brothers were telling me about the various camp activities, Chiron, who was sitting...well, standing by table 12 beside Dionysus; pounded his hoof against the white floor of the pavilion, and everyone went silent.

The old centaur raised his glass and said, "To the gods!"

Everyone else raised their glasses and echoed his words. "To the gods!"

The kitchen doors flew open and wood nymphs came forward with platters of mouth watering dishes: exotic looking fruits, bread, cheese, barbeque, pasta, chicken, and a bunch of other stuff.

Unlike the others, however, my glass was empty. But then Connor said, "Speak to it. Anything you like. Non-alcoholic, though."

I took the glass and said, "Strawberry lemonade."

The glass instantly filled with a clear, pinkish liquid. My eyes went wide as saucers and I took a tiny sip. It was delicious.

Travis and Connor snickered at my amazed expression, but I ignored them and started loading my plate with food. I was about to take a bite of my salad when my fork was literally snatched out of my hands, so that I only bit thin air.

Annoyed, I turned to my right to yell at Travis, but before I could say anything, he said, "You have to give an offering to the gods before you start eating. It's tradition. They like the burnt smell.''

And that's when I noticed everybody getting up and carrying their plates to the central fire, where they dropped into it the tastiest portion of their meal. The softest piece of bread, the ripest fruit, and the juiciest piece of steak. I felt like an idiot.

Blushing slightly, I reprimanded myself for my ignorance, and then got up with my plate, following Travis and Connor to the fire in the middle of the pavilion.

The two brothers each scraped a portion of their steak into the flames. "Hope you enjoy it, Dad," Travis said, and then they both walked back to their table.

It was my turn next. I tossed in the biggest piece of chicken on my plate (I was so sorry to see it go), and said, "I hope you like it, mom. Wish I knew who you are."

I then breathed in and got a whiff of the smoke coming out of the flames, but what my sensory cells registered surprised me to no end. The smoke smelled nothing like burning food. It smelled of warm, tasty coffee; freshly baked chocolate chip cookies; barbeque chicken; lavender, orchids and lots of other scents that I couldn't really recognize. It smelled _delicious._

I took in another deep breath of the smoke and then turned around.

The first thing I noticed was the fact that each and every person in the pavilion was staring at me expectantly, like they were waiting for something really important to happen.

Five seconds passed, and nothing extraordinary happened. They were disappointed. Murmurs broke out in the area and I cautiously started walking towards the table again, but then a sudden intake of breaths stopped me in my tracks.

I looked around again, and raised my eyebrows when I saw everyone staring at me with wide eyes. No no, they were staring above me.

I looked up curiously and saw a hologram of a pair of dark blue flaming torches, spinning and glowing brightly. The symbol of...

My face broke into a huge grin as everybody started whispering again, but this time it seemed more excited. I saw Chance (blush) raising two thumbs up, and Percy, who was now seated at the Poseidon table, was giving me a crooked smile. Annabeth was grinning widely at me, and the two Stoll brothers were just staring at me, their mouths opening and closing like a gaping fish (seriously, how stupid can they even _get?_).

"It has been determined," Chiron announced over the din of the pavilion.

Everyone in the pavilion reluctantly got out of their seats and started kneeling before me.

"All hail Xylia Willis, daughter of Hecate, goddess of magic. "

* * *

><p><em>SHE HAS BEEN DETERMINED! Though it's not really surprising, is it? I made it pretty clear in the prologue itself.<em>

_So did you like the chapter? Or did you not? Tell me in a review! Constructive criticism is definitely appreciated, although flame me and I get Xylia to attack you with fireballs and icicles. I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE! :D_

_Well not really, but still._

_Um..._

_...Just review! Please! I promise you a virtual cookie! :)_

_-EbonyRey._


	6. A Letter And A Gift

_I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians  
><em>

* * *

><p>A Letter And A Gift.<p>

Right after dinner, I was moved into the awesome cabin that is Hecate's. And believe me when I say that the interior of the cabin was just as cool (if not more) as the exterior.

The cabin walls were a beautiful shade of navy blue, with awesome looking black swirly designs on them, and the floor was made of black marble. The walls on either side of the door were lined with bunk beds, each with black and blue bedsheets on them, and the entire cabin was lit up with a bunch of large golden orbs that floated around just underneath the ceiling.

All in all, it was incredible.

And the best part of it was the fact that I had the entire cabin to myself, since apparently I was the first child of Hecate to have been discovered after the 2nd Titan war, which Travis, Connor and Hallie had told me about during my über short stay in the Hermes cabin.

Unfortunately, this also meant that I was to become the head counselor of my cabin, since there was no one else around to take the post.

I dumped my backpack on a random bed, fully aware of the fact that Travis and Connor were still standing behind me, gaping quietly at the awesomeness of my cabin.

I was about to turn around and push them outside, since I was pretty tired, when I noticed a small package sitting on one of the beds.

I stood staring at it, unsure as to whether opening it, or even touching it would be a good idea or not. I turned towards the brothers behind me, and said, ''Did you guys leave that there?"

Travis and Connor both looked towards where I was pointing, and _genuine_ confusion (yeah, even I was surprised at that) flitted across their faces.

"Nope," Connor said, frowning slightly.

''Yeah, I didn't leave it here either," Travis said. "Maybe it's from your mom...?"

My eyebrows scrunched together. My mom?

I turned back towards the package, and eventually, my curiosity got the better of me. I went and picked it up, shaking it slightly to see what was in there.

"Open it!" Connor exclaimed, curiosity shining his eyes. Travis nodded, looking eager as well.

I tore through the wrapping, and opened the box to see four odd objects staring at me from inside it.

There were two bracelets, a round golden cookie sized coin, and a letter.

I blinked, a bit confused.

"What is it?" Travis asked eagerly. The two brothers crowded around me, eager to see what was inside.

I ignored their questions, silently taking out the letter and opening it.

_My dearest daughter, _

_It has been a long time - too long, in fact - since I have last seen you. I remember when you were just a baby, a tiny little runt in my arms. You have grown since then, and have matured greatly to become the incredible person that you are now._

_Please forgive me for not having had a bigger part in your life, but ancient laws prohibit me from spending time with my own. I am truly sorry that I was not there for you, and was unable to be the mother you wish you had. _

_Anyway, you must know that your future is not as smooth as your past was. You must brace yourself, and prepare yourself for a very bumpy ride. There will be many hardships, and many times, you will feel hopeless, but you must not lose faith. All will be well in the end._

_The pair of bracelets inside the package is a gift from me, as a token of my love and apologies. It is a pair of twin swords - rub the sapphire charms in the middle whenever you need them. Also, they are charmed, so that when you hold the weapons, you will be able to sense attacks from behind, and will be able to counter easily._

_Remember, I will always love you, Xylia, even if you think otherwise. _

_-Your mother, Hecate._

_P.S. Sorry for the sort of late claiming.  
><em>

_P.P.S. You may want to contact your father now. I'm sure he's worried sick. I have put a gold drachma in as well, so you can Iris Message him. You can ask your friends about it._

I stared at the paper in my hands, my eyes narrowed and my mouth ajar. What about my future was so bad? And...twin swords?

Curiously, I took the bracelets from inside the box and rubbed the sapphire charms on each of them.

Within seconds, the two bracelets morphed into a pair of beautiful silvery golden swords, with black hilts and navy blue designs on the edge. In the middle of the hilt of each sword, was a large blue sapphire, that glinted in the light radiating from the orbs floating above.

"That is so cool!" Travis exclaimed.

"It's awesome!" Connor agreed, his mouth dropping open.

I beamed happily, gently fingering the swords, careful not to hurt myself. They were incredible.

After staring at them wondrously for a few seconds, I rubbed the sapphires in the middle and then slipped both the bracelets onto my right hand.

I then remembered the last line of the letter, which in turn sent me into a frenzy.

"Oh my Gods, my dad!" I yelped, my eyes widening. I picked up the box and looked inside, to see that the cookie like coin had disappeared.

I turned around to face the boys, who were whistling innocently, like they hadn't done anything. Tch. Yeah, right.

I raised an eyebrow and held out my good hand (the other one was still in a cast, remember?). "Come on! Cough it up!"

Travis groaned and then placed the golden cookie into my hand.

Satisfied, I nodded and then looked at them questioningly. "So how do you do this thing?"

"Iris messaging? Oh, it's easy!" Connor exclaimed.

"Yeah," Travis agreed. "Well first thing, you have to find or make a rainbow so that you can summon the goddess Iris. Percy's got a fountain in his cabin for IM'ing. We can use that."

Connor grabbed my uninjured arm and dragged me to the Poseidon cabin.

Travis flung open the door, and we entered the cabin to see a surprised looking Percy sitting on one of the beds, a pen in his hands.

I smiled at him nonchalantly. "Hey, Percy."

"Sup dude," Connor said. "Lia here needs to IM her dad. We're using your fountain."

"OK, sure," Percy smiled, and then went back to fiddling with the pen he was holding.

"Lia?" I asked dubiously, but no one seemed to have heard me.

Travis then dragged me to the fountain, where the water was spraying and colliding with the light to form a light rainbow.

Connor took the drachma from my hand, and then tossed it into the rainbow. But instead of clattering to the floor, it was absorbed into the band of colors, which freaked me out a little bit.

"Oh Goddess, please accept our offering..." Connor said, and then silently urged me with his hands.

"Huh? Oh!" I said. "Harry Willis, 37 Glenmore Street, Chicago."

The mist rippled and slowly, a fuzzy image formed, which cleared to show the living room of my house (well, mansion, but whatever).

I barely noticed Travis, Connor and Percy quietly walking out of the cabin to give me some privacy. All I was focusing on was the shaking image of my dad, who was sitting on the sofa, his head in his hands.

He must have been so worried...

"Dad!" I called out.

Harry Willis immediately shot out of the sofa, and turned toward the sound of my voice. His face broke into a huge smile.

"Lee Lee! You're all right!" He exclaimed. Then his expression morphed into that of a small frown. "Where have you been? I've been so worried!"

"Hey, it's okay, Dad," I said, grinning. "I'm at Camp Half-Blood."

"Camp...Half-Blood?" Dad asked. His eyes widened. "Oh, so-"

"Yeah, I found out that mom's a goddess," I said, nodding. "But why didn't you tell me before?"

"Yeah, about that," he said with a sad smile. "If you knew, your godly scent would have become more pronounced. More monsters would have found you."

"Oh," I said understandably. That made sense...sort of.

"So..." my father said, rocking back and forth on the heels of his feet - something he does when he's nervous. "You're not mad at me?"

I grinned at him. "Not really. You had a reason for...whatever you did, right? Forget about it, okay? It's in the past now."

Dad sighed...with relief? "Yeah, OK. So what's it like there?"

"Oh, it's awesome!" I exclaimed happily. "There's a swords arena, and an archery range, and a javelin range, and a stable filled with Pegasi! And my cabin's incredible too! Mom even gave me a pair of twin swords!"

Dad's eyes twinkled. "Really? Sounds awesome. But be careful with the swords, will you? I don't want you to end up with...why is your hand in a cast?"

He just noticed?

"Oh, that," I said, smiling sheepishly. "I got attacked by a Hydra on the way here...(dad's eyes widened comically) But don't worry! I killed it with my super awesome magic powers and I'm OK now! Really!"

"OK then." Dad seemed unsure. "But IM me if anything goes wrong, all right?"

"Sure, dad," I said, nodding. "Don't worry."

"Uh, Xylia?" I turned around and saw Percy's head peeking through the cabin door. "It's almost curfew..."

"OH, yeah," I said. I turned back toward my dad. "I have to go..."

"I understand," Dad said nodding. "I'll talk to you later, OK?"

"Yeah," I said. "Oh, and could you possibly try and send over some of my stuff? I didn't bring much."

"Sure," dad said easily. "Good night, Lee Lee."

"Good night, Dad."

His hand slashed through the image and it disappeared.

* * *

><p><em>ANOTHER NOTE: So did you like it? I hope you did.<em>

_Please review!  
><em>

_-Ebony. _


	7. My First Official Day At Camp

_A NOTE: Okay, look you guys, I know my story's not the best in the world, but I'm not satisfied with the response it's getting. I expected it to get at least a little more than it's getting right now._

_I don't really want to stop writing this story, but if it's really so bad that it cannot get a little more response, I figure that I'll lose my will to keep updating._

_Reviews give me motivation to keep going. And right now, I'm feeling pretty discouraged. So yeah, I'm sorry if I lose interest, but it cannot be helped._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson._

_I hope you like the sixth chapter. :)_

_-Ebony._

_P.S. Sorry for the long note.  
><em>

* * *

><p>My Official First Day At Camp.<p>

BEEP BEEP. BEEP BEEP.

I groaned in my sleep, and willed the beeping to stop.

It didn't.

BEEP BEEP. BEEP BEEP.

I huffed, and then cracked my eyes open just a tiny bit, and tried to locate the source of the annoying beeping sound.

My eyes zeroed in on a purple alarm clock that was floating around just beside my bed. Where did that even come from?

_Probably mom_, I thought sorrowfully, turning off the damned clock with my right hand (the left hand, although fully healed, was still in a cast). When your mother's the goddess of magic, you must _expect the unexpected._

Great. Now I'm starting to sound like Chiron.

I shook my head at my stupid thoughts, and then decided to get up, since I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep anyway.

I jumped off the bed, stretched my muscles, and then checked the time.

My mind blew up in outrage.

7.00 AM.

7.00 FREAKING AM.

WHO wakes up at 7.00 AM on summer vacation?

I glared at the alarm clock and started mumbling a string of profanities that would've made a nun blush.

After exactly three minutes of cursing (I knew that because I was glaring at an alarm CLOCK. Dur.), I grabbed my underwear, a Camp Half-Blood T shirt (Travis and Connor had stolen them for me from the camp store yesterday) and shorts, and then stalked off to the bathroom, deciding to cool off under a nice, cold shower.

I walked out around fifteen minutes later, toweling my damp hair, still grumbling about being forced to wake up at such an ungodly hour.

And that's when I noticed a piece of paper lying on my pillow. I went over and picked it up, and squinted at the words written on it.

* * *

><p><em>DAILY ACTIVITY SCHEDULE FOR HECATE CABIN.<em>

_08.00 AM - 09.00 AM - Breakfast and Cabin Inspection_

_09.00 AM - 10.00 AM - Sword and Shield W/ Percy Jackson (full combat armor required)_

_10.00 AM - 11.00 AM - Archery W/ Chiron (target practice)_

_11.00 AM - 12.00 PM - Winged Horseback Riding W/ Demeter Cabin_

_12.00 PM - 01.00 PM - Lunch_

_01.00 PM - 02.00 PM - Monster Assault Techniques W/ Hermes Cabin (Ethiopian drakons) OR Ancient Greek W/ Annabeth_

_02.00 PM - 04.00 PM - FREE CHOICE - Arts 'n' Crafts W/ Hephaestus Cabin OR Canoe Races W/ Naiads OR Climbing Wall W/ Satyrs ('the clashing rocks')_

_04.00 PM - 05.00 PM - Swim and Beach W/ Nereids ( bring sunscreen, discus, javelin, etc.)_

_05.00 PM - 06.00 PM - Free Time, Volleyball, Cabin Clean-up_

_06.00 PM - 07.00 PM - Dinner_

_07.00 PM - 09.00 PM - (on Fridays) Capture the Flag (combat gear required; magic items allowed) / (on Wednesday) Fireworks at the Beach / (on other days) Free Time._

_09.00 PM - 10.00 PM - Sing-A-Long and Bonfire W/ Apollo Cabin_

_10.00 PM - Prepare for Bed (lights out by 11.00 PM)_

* * *

><p>All right. It seemed like a pretty good schedule. Except for the fact that I'd have to wake up at 7. 00 AM everyday...<p>

...Well at least I had been given four hours of free time...except on Fridays, but whatever.

Today, if I was not mistaken, was Sunday. And I would know that because school had let out two days ago on a Friday.

Awesome.

Smiling for the first time since I'd woken up, I checked the time again. It was 7.30. I had half an hour before breakfast and cabin inspection.

That should be enough time to clean around.

I stared that my cabin. It was relatively neat, except for my unmade bed. I'd have to fix that...

I narrowed my eyes at the bed, and then flicked my wrist.

There! As good as new. It was like no one had even used it last night!

I checked the time again. 7.31.

What to do, what to do...

I flopped back down on my bed, and started levitating the damned purple alarm clock out of boredom.

(And yes, readers, that is how I spent the next twenty-eight minutes of my life, so let's fast forward a little bit, shall we?)

At 7.59, I lost my patience. I jumped off the bed and ran out of the cabin, anxious to satisfy my hunger.

As I sprinted toward the pavilion, I noticed Chance walking out of the Zeus cabin as well. I called out his name.

His gaze snapped towards me and he grinned, gaining speed to catch up with me.

"Mornin', Chance," I said, smiling.

"Good morning, Xylia," he greeted.

"Who said it was good?" I grumbled, mentally cursing that stupid purple alarm clock for ruining a good night's sleep.

"What happened?" he asked curiously, falling in step with me.

"Nothing serious," I sighed, brushing the topic away. "What activity do you have after breakfast?"

"Oh? Yeah, I have Sword and Shield. You?" he said.

"Me too," I replied, trying to keep the glee out of my voice. Yay! He was in the same class as me!

"Awesome," he nodded. By that time, we'd reached the pavilion. I sprinted up the steps with delight, happy to finally satisfy my empty stomach.

"Hungry?" Chance asked me, smirking.

"Maybe," I grinned, and then we parted ways - he went to the Zeus table while I went to Hecate's: a stone table with a white table cloth that had the symbol of Hecate - twin blue flaming torches - embroidered onto it.

I waved at Percy and Annabeth, who had already arrived before me, and then sat on one of the blue chairs, and aimlessly stared at the table cloth for around five minutes, before the nymphs came out and brought the food.

"To the gods," Chiron shouted from table twelve, raising his goblet. The crowd echoed his words sleepily, most of them being only half-awake.

I murmured a distracted 'thank you' to the nymph that had come over to my table, more focused on the food being laid down in front of me. After giving a big sacrifice to my mom, I finally settled down to have the delicious homemade breakfast I'd been longing ever since I'd stepped into the pavilion.

After around half an hour, I got up from my chair, smiling happily, satisfied with my now full stomach. Since my left hand was still in a cast, I figured I'd have to go to the infirmary first, before I went to the swords arena. I decided to leave without Chance though, because I didn't want to bother him with an unnecessary detour.

Just before I'd walked out of the pavilion, however, Chance managed to catch up with me.

"Decided to leave without me?" Chance asked with a mock hurt expression.

I shook my head. "I have to go to the infirmary first, to remove the cast. Figured you wouldn't wanna come, so..."

Chance eyed my left hand like he'd just remembered that it was injured. "Oh yeah," he mumbled. "I forgot about that. Come on. Let's go."

I blinked at him. "You're coming with me?"

He rolled his eyes, as if the very question seemed ridiculous. "Of course I am. Now come on!"

We jogged to the infirmary, where Kayla, the daughter of Apollo who was the one in charge at that time, removed the stupid cast.

"Your arm is fully healed," Kayla said to me as she examined it. "You're good to go."

I smiled happily at her, and then we walked over to the swords arena.

Just as we entered, Chance said, "Let's go to the armory first. We need to get you fitted with armor, and then get you a sword and shield."

Oh yeah. He didn't know about my mom's package and her letter. Only Travis and Connor did. Heh.

"No need for the sword and shield," I said cryptically, fingering the bracelets on my right hand.

I enjoyed seeing the overly confused expression that set on Chance's face.

I rubbed the sapphire charms on both the bracelets with my left hand, and then within two seconds, I was holding my beautiful twin swords in either hand.

I grinned as I watched Chance blather on like an idiot, staring at the two weapons with an amazed look on his face.

"How...what...where did you..." he mumbled, dumbstruck.

Smirking, I changed the swords back into bracelet form and then told him all about my mom's package and letter. I decided not to tell him about the whole bumpy future bit, though, since I was still a little bit freaked out about it myself.

Chance stared at the swords for a minute, and then finally said: "Okay. So you use twin swords. I guess you won't need the shield, then...let's go get the armor."

I grinned at him and let him lead me to a wooden shed that stood to the side of the arena. Inside, there was an entire array of armor sets, all of different sizes. At one side of the shed, a bulky teenage boy was standing, examining one set of armor.

"Jake," Chance greeted. Jake looked up and smiled. "Chance, hey. And the new girl too. Come for some armor?"

"Yeah," I nodded smiling. "And my name's Xylia."

Jake nodded and then stared at me for a second. He went over and picked up one of the sets hanging from the walls. "This should fit you," he said, looking at me with a critical eye. I blushed slightly and took the armor from his hands, murmuring a quiet thank you.

"Thanks man," Chance said.

"Anytime, dude," Jake replied, and then went back to his armor set. We walked out after that.

When I put on the armor, I was not happy. I mean, sure, it fit me perfectly, but it was incredibly stuffy, slightly stinky, and it restricted my movements a lot.

"I don't like it," I complained, fidgeting.

Chance smirked at me. "You'll get used to it."

I rolled my eyes, grumbling slightly, and we went over to join the crowd that had now formed in the arena.

"Hey guys," Percy Jackson greeted us as he walked into the arena with Annabeth. "Okay, I want everybody to pair up and spar against each other, okay? There won't be any new moves today."

"Okay," everyone said simultaneously.

There was a sort of mad scramble to find partners, and amidst the rush, I found myself facing Chance, who nodded and smiled.

"Swords," he said to me as he tapped his ring.

I rubbed the sapphires on the bracelets and drew my twin swords nervously.

Chance noticed my demeanor and told me, "Okay now, don't be nervous, and don't try to think. You just have to listen to your instincts. They will guide you."

_He sounds like the freaky tree from Pocahontas,_ I thought randomly as he took a fighting stance.

I took a deep breath, and tried to focus my mind on the ADHD part of my brain, which Chiron had told me were my fighting instincts.

My body subconsciously bent to take on a fighting stance not different from Chance's, and my hands gripped my swords tightly.

We circled each other quietly, paying no heed to the outside world. All I focused on was Chance and his lethal weapon.

Suddenly, Chance ran towards me and brought his sword up at an attempt to strike, but somehow, I was ready.

My hands had moved without my knowing, lifting up so that my twin swords formed a cross that intercepted Chance's sword mid-strike. I pulled them apart quickly, and forced Chance away from me.

He raised his weapon for the second time, but yet again, I was ready. My instincts took over completely and my mind went on autopilot. Whenever he slashed, I parried, and whenever he struck, I deflected, and his blade never got close to my skin.

The next thing I knew, I was standing over a defeated Chance, who was lying on the ground, weaponless, while my foot was planted on his chest and my swords were crossed around his neck, barring any movement.

"Okay, okay," Chance panted, trying to catch his breath. "You win. New let me up!"

I blinked, breathing hard, and removed the swords from his neck. I rubbed the sapphire charms and slipped on the bracelets, and then turned around to find the entire class, including the instructor, staring at me like I'd spontaneously sprouted two heads.

"Um," I said, shifting awkwardly.

Percy seemed to snap out of his trance and said, "That was...brilliant. How did you..."

I blinked again. "How should I know?"

"You're a daughter of Hecate, right? Did you use your magic?" Somebody asked me.

I frowned. "No, I didn't. Unless it happened without my knowing..."

"Then how..."

"Natural talent?" Chance suggested from my side.

"It seems to be," Annabeth said, all logical. She cracked a grin at me. "You're pretty good, Lia."

I smiled widely. "Thanks."

And _that, _was how my first swords lesson went.

The next class was archery, which Chiron was teaching. I turned out to be okay - I managed to get my arrows into the last ring, which was pretty good, according to me.

In the middle of the lesson, I got this incredible idea of using my magic to guide the arrow right to the center.

I never missed after that.

Hey, nobody said it was wrong, did they?

Pegasi riding turned out to be pretty cool too. Katie Gardner, daughter of Demeter, introduced me to a white Pegasus named Twinkles.

Hey, don't look at me. A six year old had named her. And it turns out, once you name a Pegasus, the name sticks forever.

Well _anyway,_ she seemed to be okay with me, so the class went without any problems.

After lunch, was Monster Assault Techniques with the Hermes Cabin.

Yeah, the teachers themselves (Travis and Connor: yeah, I was plenty surprised) ditched the class to prank the Ares Cabin, so I did nothing but wander around aimlessly for the next hour.

Ancient Greek with Annabeth was fun, and for free choice, I'd decided to go for the climbing wall with the satyrs.

After exiting the infirmary with an blistering right hand, I vowed to never do it voluntarily again.

I hung around with Chance, Travis and Connor during free time, doing pretty much nothing. Dinner came after that, and the campfire was pretty fun too, and although the songs seemed pretty corny, I thought it was awesome.

As I got ready for bed later that night, I figured that waking up early to another day at camp wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

><p><em>A NOTE: Sorry for the extremely crappy ending. I didn't know how to finish it! I still hope you liked the rest of the chapter, though.<em>

_Please review! :)_


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